An Investigation into the Death of Gekkou Hayate
by Kopykat Kakashi
Summary: What really happened after Hayate's body was found? Join Hiashi and Hanabi as they play detective. CSI shinobi style!
1. The Body

_Author's Notes: CSI shinobi style! Actually, I have never seen a full episode of CSI but I did do two years of graduate studies in forensic science. I tried to keep things simple for this story._

**From Konoha's Confidential Case Files: An Investigation into the Death of Gekkou Hayate**

_**The Crows**_

_'Things are not good, not good at all…'_ Sandaime thought despite nothing disastrous happening since Orochimaru made his threat to Anko several days ago. Yesterday the second chuunin exam had just concluded, as well as the preliminaries to the third chuunin exam. And Kakashi had filed a report alleging that Yakushi Kabuto was a Sound spy after Kakashi had discovered him in Sasuke's hospital room. Planning what? To kill him? More likely to abduct him for Orochimaru's nefarious purposes. Sandaime had a funny feeling about Kabuto right after the second exam when he decided to drop out of the preliminaries. Yes, he was low on chakra and injured, but so were most of the other genin. That was not a good excuse. He could have faced Haruno Sakura or one of the other kunoichi. He would have had a chance against them. And he could have surrendered at any time during the preliminary match. For a shinobi to just give up without trying was peculiar, very peculiar. Kabuto's academic records and mission logs were undistinguished, that in itself was suspicious. What better cover for a mole than to keep a low profile? But at the time Sandaime was not thinking of possible genin spies; he was concerned about Sasuke and Orochimaru.

But if Kabuto were a spy, and Kakashi's report made perfectly clear that he all but admitted it, what about Yoroi and Misume, his team members? Sandaime had sent men to follow each of them. Two of the tails reported their charges were missing from the hospital and could not be found. Hayate had not checked in at all. '_That was not good, not good at all…' _

In contrast to Sandaime's dark thoughts and troubled mind, it was another beautiful day in Konoha. The Third Hokage looked up during his morning walk to see a black commotion on top of Kikyo's Tower. The sky was sunny, clear and blue, but there was a disturbing stillness in the air despite the cackling of crows and the noisy flutter of their wings. Concerned by the bad omen, he called to his ever present bodyguard, "Raidou, send a team of Anbu to investigate what's going on up there." '_Has Orochimaru made his move?'_

"Yes, Hokage-sama," Raidou said, bowing, before he concentrated chakra to his feet and disappearing in a puff of dust.

_'I hope they're just fighting over some litter one of the irresponsible genin left behind,'_ the Hokage thought, thinking of Naruto as the probable culprit.

Fifteen minutes later, one of the Anbu appeared before Sandaime and Raidou, who were now having their morning coffee in the Hokage's office, to give his report. "On top of Kikyo's Tower we found the body of Gekkou Hayate, cut up and partially devoured by crows." The masked face betrayed no emotion but the Hokage caught the tremor of fury from his voice and hands.

"I see…so it has begun…" Sandaime said warily then added to himself, '_Sigh, in the past, something like this would normally have been investigated by the Uchiha clan.'_

But there were no more Uchiha in law enforcement. The current law enforcement shinobi were not equipped to deal with such an important and delicate situation. He would have to call on someone with more experience and analytical eyes. "Bring Hyuuga Hiashi to the tower," Sandaime ordered.

The Anbu raised his head in surprised. "Hokage-sama, no disrespect, but I believe us Anbu should handle this investigation. As you know Hayate's…"

Sandaime cut him off, "That's the problem. With her there would be too much emotional involvement. We need someone objective..." _'And you can't find anyone colder than Hiashi.'_

…_-…-…-…-…-…_

_**The Body**_

"Again!" Hiashi shouted at Hanabi as she failed to hit the bullseye with her kunai for the third time, while balancing on one leg on top of an irregular shaped boulder, and with one hand tied behind her back, and with a kerchief covering her right eye. "In battle, you never know when you might lose the use of a leg, hand, or eye, or all three. You must be prepared for anything. Even with your last dying breath you should be able to take down just one more enemy," he instructed coldly.

"Y…y…yes, father," Hanabi said weakly as she teeter-tottered on the rock_. 'Damn it! With Hinata in the hospital, that crazy old man's been pushing me even more than usual! If being heir to this crazy clan means going through all this, I'd be happy to hand it all over to psycho-cousin Neji!'_

From the back corner of his byakugan, Hiashi saw the approach of one of his servants, or rather an assistant - one of the branch members. "Hiashi-sama, there's a summons from the Hokage," the old man said while bowing low.

"Now? I'm in the middle of training the next Hyuuga heir," Hiashi replied angrily. "You tell the messenger to go tell Sandaime to stick some weed in his pipe and smoke it!"

"Excuse me, Hiashi-sama, but it appears to be an important matter concerning the death of…"

"A death? Why didn't you say so in the first place! Nothing like death for motivation. Hanabi, come with me. It's time you saw death up close and personal," Hiashi said with as much enthusiasm as either the old man or Hanabi had ever heard from him.

"Yes, father," Hanabi sighed. '_Viewing a dead body is no fun, but at least no more physical training for today, I hope. Unless the sick bastard wants me to carry the corpse around for strength training…' _

…_-…-…-…-…-…_

Hiashi and Hanabi immediately followed the Anbu to the roof of Kikyo's Tower where the Hokage was waiting along with Raidou and four other Anbu members. They stood a respectful distance from the body while keeping an eye on the few stubborn remaining crows who did not want to give up their meal.

Hiashi took command as soon as he stepped foot on the crime scene. "Don't touch anything! Did anyone touch anything?" he asked curtly.

Taken aback by his sudden presence and orders, everyone shook their heads. Hiashi frowned and activated his byakugan_. 'At least one of them is lying.'_ They cleared the way for him as he slowly circled the body, studying everything with his white eyes. His world was now black and white with shades of uncluttered gray. Without the distraction of colors, he was able to focus on the shapes and patterns in greater distinctive detail. '_Sandal prints… fresh, faded, partial, overlapping...bloodstains…fairly fresh…round, elliptical, large splatters, tiny drops…bird poop – yuck!' _Then he approached the body and reached out to feel its skin. He unclutched the fingers of both hands, lifted the arms, rolled the body on its side, then repositioned the body.

Hanabi stood back with everyone else and watched her father with interest_. 'I've never seen him so…intense and excited before...' _

Sandaime started to say, "Hiashi, I called you because there is a possibility that this murder is associated with…"

"Stop! I don't want to hear anymore at this stage. I need to form my impressions first before being tainted by your suspicions. My deductions will be pure and infallible."

Annoyed with his lack of respect, Sandaime cleared his voice before speaking again, "Ahem…Hiashi you're the lead in this investigation. If you should need any help, the Anbu here and the shinobi medics at the hospital are at your disposal, but I'm afraid I won't be able to spare anyone else…"

"I don't need those pathetic cretins," he gave the Anbu a look of disdain, "All I need is my assistant, Hanabi."

Sandaime did not need a byakugan to see his troops fuming at Hiashi's arrogance.

"Huh? Me?" Hanabi looked up from the body in confusion.

"Hanabi, tell me what you see," her father ordered.

What Hanabi saw was a bloody mess. Her stomach lurched at the sight but since her father refused to feed her until after training, there was nothing in it to puke up. She tried to study it as her father did, walking around the body, but without touching it. Skin peeled away from the face, hands and feet, where the crows found their easiest meal, revealing muscle and bone. The pants and shirt were torn and soaked with blood. But the heavy duty green shinobi vest had withstood the crows' attack fairly well. "Uh, well, I see a male body, umm apparently dead, age umm, mid twenties. The eyes are missing but the hair is brown…"

"Try turning on your byakugan. Now what do you see?"

"I see lots of sandal prints now and more bloodstains that I did see before…"

"Sigh, you see but you don't observe. How long do you think he's been dead?"

Hanabi shrugged. Her father shook his head in disappointment.

"Listen up," Hiashi said imperiously. "This body has been dead for approximately 8 hours given the current temperature, last night's temperature, and the degree of rigor mortis. He was dead before being consumed by scavengers given the lack of defensive wounds and lack of spilled blood from the holes created by the crow's pecking. Death was fairly immediate and resulted primarily from severing the jugular." Hiashi pointed at the neck and trailed his finger down to indicate the pool of blood.

"Hmmf, well, all that's obvious," Raidou muttered just loud enough for Hiashi to hear.

Unperturbed, Hiashi turned his attention to the rest of the ground. "See this bloodstain pattern? It indicates an arterial spurt. From the size and shape of the blood drops, it appears he was cut down in mid-air." Hiashi looked up and pointed at some ambiguous location above them. "He attacked his opponent from above, intending to deliver a blow to his opponent. At an approximate height of 8 feet, he was cut down. His opponent was standing where I am now."

"How can you tell all that, father?" Hanabi asked as if in awe of his powers. '_Is this just bullshit or is he all he thinks he is?'_

"Turn on your byakugan and observe the bloodstain patterns. Take special note of the secondary blood drops and back splatter. When blood is released from the body with force, such as from an artery, it shoots out in a parabolic arch and falls to the ground at an angle of incidence indicative of the source . See this elongated droplet? The size and shape tells us the height and angle from where it originated. Its tail points to the source direction, where the victim was located. The number and size of the smaller secondary droplets also indicates the force at which the primary droplet hit the ground." Hiashi paused and pointed to his feet. "This pattern here is incomplete. That means the perpetrator was standing here and the missing blood is what fell on him."

"Father, you're amazing!" Hanabi gushed. '_Yeah, yeah, whatever, this is getting boring with all the math-physics terminology.'_

Hiashi suddenly turned to the Anbu, "I know you lied. This body has been moved. Look at the pooled blood here, it doesn't match the body position."

"I'm sorry," said the masked Anbu girl with long purple hair, "I just moved his arm slightly to take his pulse and to recover his sword. It was a family heirloom…"

"I don't care what your reasons were,"Hiashi interrupted. "You should have shown me the sword immediately to determine whether it's the murder weapon. Your action and deception could have hindered this investigation..."

The poor Anbu girl started to tremble but whether it was from grief or anger no one knew.

"Calm down Hiashi, there's no harm done…" Sandaime started to say.

"No harm? Who knows what else these imbeciles did to obscure any clues. With them traipsing all over, virtually all latent footprints are gone. Hanabi, give me something to mark off this area."

"Umm, I have some bandages, but I don't think it's enough," Hanabi said while rummaging through her belt pack.

"You must learn to make do with what you have. Watch me." Hiashi took the bandages from Hanabi, unraveled the weave and reformed it into a long thin piece of rope, which he placed on the ground around Hayate's body. Then he forced chakra into the rope and an outline of the body appeared on the ground.

Hanabi was visibly impressed. "Father, how did you do that?" '_The demented old guy sure has lots of tricks up his sleeve!'_

"I concentrated my chakra into the fabric of the bandages to pull the threads apart and then twirled the chakra around the threads to reform them into rope. Then after marking off the body's position, I sent chakra through the rope to burn the pattern temporarily into the ground. Simple enough." Hiashi returned his attention to the living. "Which of you saw the body first?"

The Anbu girl stepped forward and started to say, "Hokage-sama asked Raidou-san to summon us to investigate…"

Hiashi stared fixedly at Raidou, "Tell me everything you saw and did this morning. And remember, I'll know if you lie."

Raidou flushed angrily and thought, '_Damn arrogant bastard. He drove his daughter Hinata practically to suicide. She nearly killed herself trying to prove her worth to him. Doesn't seem like he treats this daughter any better.'_ But he swallowed his anger and answered respectfully. "I got up at dawn. My bed faces the window so I don't need an alarm clock. I put on my cloth slippers that I only wear at home. I walked over to the bathroom, pulled up the toilet seat…"

"No, no! I mean this morning after the Hokage ordered you to Kikyo's Tower," Hiashi said impatiently.

"Well, you should be more specific," Raidou retorted sarcastically. "Let's see…I accompanied Sandaime on his walk at 7:30 this morning. He saw a murder of crows congregating noisily on the roof so he asked me to call together an Anbu platoon to investigate. After I sent the platoon I waited with Sandaime for the report."

"So you were not among the first to see the body?"

"No, I…"

"Why am I wasting time speaking to you? Make yourself useful, go get that photographer, the one who takes the ninja registration pictures. He should do," Hiashi ordered then added to himself, '_He took a stunning picture of me for my academy graduation.' "_ We need to document everything for evidence. Bring all his special filters and lighting equipment. Hanabi, you stand guard over the body while I interview…them," Hiashi turned his attention back to the Anbu.

The Anbu girl walked back to Hiashi while Raidou disappeared in an angry puff of dust to bring the photographer. "I arrived here first with the rest of my platoon right behind me at 7:15," she began to say.

"Remove your mask," Hiashi ordered the Anbu girl since he needed to see her facial expressions and reactions to his interrogation.

She turned her head to the Hokage who nodded his compliance. She pulled the mask off her face and raised her head to look up at Hiashi defiantly. He towered over her.

"My name is…" she began to introduce herself.

"I don't care what your name is unless you committed this murder," Hiashi interrupted._ 'I'll just think of her as that purple-hair Anbu chick.' _"Just tell me exactly what you saw when you got here."

"As we approached I noted there were about four and twenty black birds all pecking at something. We shooed them away and saw that it was Hayate…"

"How did you approach the body?"

"Damn it, stop calling Hayate 'the body' and 'it.' He had a name. You knew him!"

Hiashi ignored the girl's outburst. "How far from _the body_ were you before you identified _it_?"

She gritted her teeth and answered, "We had to get close to shoo the birds away. I was right next to the b…Hayate. I knew him at a glance…"

"From which side did you approach?"

She illustrated the path she took by pointing. "I stood by his left side and picked up his sword."

"Let me see the sword." Hiashi stared closely at the blade with his activated byakugan while she held it out. "Have you wiped off the sword?" he asked intensely.

"No."

Hiashi nodded thoughtfully. "There is blood on this sword and some brown fibers. The direction and arrangement of the fibers indicates that the sword was swung down from above. The sword was apparently stuck on whatever it hit, and had to be removed forcibly. Whatever it hit protected the target and little blood was spilled, yet it was not hard enough to damage the sword. Given the height from which it was swung, the strength and weight of the wielder, the material withstood a force of over 600 Newtons. Hiashi turned on his byakugan again to use his microscopic vision. "These are Kevlar fibers, like those of a shinobi vest. It's likely that these fibers are from the shoulder pad. Hanabi, give me a senbon and some paper," he added.

Hanabi rummaged through her pack again and took out a senbon and a blank scroll, "I don't have any paper but I can rip up the scroll."

"That will do fine," Hiashi nodded in approval. He seemed to have calmed down a bit now that evidence was mounting and a theory was forming.

Hanabi handed over the senbon first which Hiashi used to collect fibers off the sword. She then ripped the scroll into 4x4 inch squares, instinctively realizing why her father wanted them. Hiashi grabbed a square and carefully placed the fibers in the middle, then folded the paper to make a secure envelope. Next he used the senbon to scrape the dried blood. "This blood is most likely from the enemy. The hospital can run a DNA profile. Hanabi, take this sword as evidence, hold it by the handle only, and wrap it in something clean…"

"Hey, you can't do that! This sword is a family heirloom…" the Anbu girl started to protest.

"Do you want to see justice done or not?" Hiashi responded, cutting off any further protests. "Now take off your sandals one at a time and let me look at them."

The Anbu all looked at him, then each other, but failed to follow his instructions. No one wanted to go barefoot atop a dirty and bloody rooftop.

"Umm, I can spread out another scroll," Hanabi offered. She rolled her scroll open on the floor as a paper mat.

Sandaime nodded as a signal to the Anbu to follow Hiashi's orders no matter how peculiar or rude.

The Anbu girl glared at Hiashi but took off her sandals and gave them to him one at a time while thinking, '_Damn pervert with his x-ray vision and foot fetish...' _Her bare feet scrunched the parchment.

Hiashi examined the sandals one after another, slowly rotating each one in his hands. He used the senbon at times to prod and pick out what appeared to be dirt, which he transferred to another piece of paper. He finally nodded and returned her sandals. "The rest of you, let me see your sandals," he said to the remaining Anbu. Again Hiashi carefully examined each one, prodding and picking with the senbon. He bent over Hayate's body and poked it at various points with his senbon to collect more evidence.

Meanwhile Hanabi took out her remaining blank scroll and carefully used it to form a spiral shaft for the sword. The second Hyuuga heir tried her best to following her father's reasoning_. 'Dear old dad must think the sword got stuck on the vest because of the presence of so many bloody fibers. If it were a clean cut, there would be more blood and only a few fibers. If it stuck, then it had to be forcibly removed. If the sword attack was from above, and the opponent was a shinobi wearing a protective vest, then the shoulder pad is the most likely place the sword hit without drawing much blood. I think I'm getting the hang of this!'_ Hanabi thought excitedly. '_There might be fingerprints on the sword other than Hayate's and that Anbu girl's. I'll have to be careful wrapping this... '_

Finally satisfied with his trace evidence collection, Hiashi asked, "Were there any reports of any unusual activity last night?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"Then it was a short decisive battle. Guess he wasn't that good," Hiashi scoffed.

"How dare you insult…" the Anbu girl started to say in a dangerous tone, but then the photographer finally arrived and all eyes were pulled toward him.

_-…-…-…-…-…-…-_

_Author's Notes: I started this piece about a year ago and I'm still not sure how to end it. I usually don't like to post stories with no ending in mind but I'm hoping to be inspired to finish it soon.I have 2 more parts right now._


	2. The Evidence

**The Evidence**

Old Genzou was not a shinobi, had never been one, had never wanted to be one. Sweat was pouring from his fat bald pate from taking the stairs to the roof. Huffing and puffing, he was not pleased. Raidou came up from behind him carrying his expensive equipment.

"You owe me one for this Sandaime," Genzou muttered crossly as he saw the bloody body. He hated being called for crime scene investigations. It called for a lot more detailed work, a lot more documentation and care, in addition to a cast iron stomach.

Hiashi greet him warmly, that is warmly for Hiashi, after all this subordinate's work was of utmost importance. "Welcome sir, would you do me the great favor of documenting this crime scene before it's compromised. Please allow me the honor of helping you set up your equipment…"

_'Father sure knows how to turn on the charm when he wants to_,' Hanabi thought wryly.

"I would like to suggest a blue filter when photographing the blood. The complementary color will accentuate…"

"Yes, I know about filters. I've done this before you know," growled Genzou. "Just stand back and don't get in my way."

"Of course," Hiashi said politely, inclining his head slightly in deference. But his ears turned bright red.

Genzou directed Raidou to position the battery powered lamps. It was a clear sunny day so he didn't really need any color balancing as he would if he were working indoors, but he needed light directed at certain areas to dispel the shadows. He also liked forcing people do unnecessary work to make it all look more technical and complicated. That made him look good. But instead of using his heavy duty portrait camera, he just used his regular camera with a telephoto lens from 28mm to 200mm zoom. His old gnarled hands were still rock steady enough not to require a tripod. Only if they requested extreme close-ups to be blown up larger than 8x10, would he really need to use his portrait camera with its 120mm negatives. He had two cameras around his neck, one loaded with black and white film, and the other with color film. Genzou circled the body at a distance, clicking away with one camera then the other. After a full rotation, he moved in a few feet closer and repeated his routine.

Meanwhile Hiashi sent an Anbu to retrieve the shinobi medics. Sandaime then announced, "You'll have to excuse us Hiashi. We need to call a staff meeting immediately to discuss the possible ramifications."

"Sandaime, I would now like to hear your thoughts on this situation," Hiashi requested respectfully.

"Well, as you know, Orochimaru has established the Hidden Village of Sound and has threatened Konoha. For some reason he wants Uchiha Sasuke and has marked him with a cursed seal. Kakashi found out yesterday in Sasuke's hospital room that Yakushi Kabuto, one of the Leaf genin taking the chuunin exams, is actually a Sound spy. We sent a few of the jounin to follow him and other possible suspects. Hayate was supposed to find and follow Kabuto."

Hiashi nodded thought fully. "Well, from the latent prints I observed with my byakugan, I was able to discern that Hayate was the one running away from his opponent…"

"Hayate was no coward!" the Anbu girl protested.

"If you'd let me finish…" Hiashi glared at the Anbu girl. "He was either inadvertently discovered by one powerful opponent, or possibly multiple opponents, so that he had to flee. Or perhaps he had important information to relay but was discovered and pursued."

Sandaime nodded, "I see, he might have discovered something important. Please see me later when you have more definitive answers." The old Hokage and Raidou then left in two puffs of dust.

The shionobi medics arrived just as Genzou was finishing up. Genzou directed two Anbu to pack up his equipment. As he readied to go he told Hiashi, "I'll send the photos over to the Hokage's in about four hours."

"Four hours! That's too long. Can't you expedite this?"

"Do you want a professional job or not? It's not like I can speed it up with ninjutsu you know. I could use one of those horrible automated machines…"

Hiashi relented. "Thank you for your assistance and professionalism Genzou-san," he said with a slight inclination of his head.

Gekkou just turned around, without bowing, and trudged down the stairs followed by the two Anbu burdened with his equipment.

"Excuse me," Hiashi said to the medics who were about to take the body away on a stretcher. He bent down to remove Hayate's shoes and stuffed them into a surprised Hanabi's arms. Then he addressed Iashi, "Please perform your standard autopsy but pay extra attention to the wounds here, Hiashi pointed to the various lacerations. I want a full description of the type of cut and a full trace metal analysis performed on the skin around the cut." He then handed Iashi the small packets of evidence he had collected. "Also run a full analysis on these samples," he added. "The tests necessary are noted on each packet."

Iashi, who was used to Hiashi's commanding demeanor from previous cases, nodded and bowed respectfully. "Yes, Hyuuga-sama," he said before carrying the body away.

Hiashi then returned his attention to the Anbu girl and her two companions. "How well did you know Hayate? Did Hayate have any enemies? What kind of person was he?" the Hyuuga head asked in a lower, calmer tone.

_'Looks like the old man finally calmed down_,' Hanabi thought. She was disappointed. She wanted to see fireworks, maybe even have a fight break out. '_That would have been exciting, see if dear old dad is everything he's cracked up to be. I wish the Hokage would lose his patience and take father down a few notches. Hah! I'd love to see that. I bet none of those other bozos would stand a chance against him.' _

The sole female member of the Anbu platoon replied steadily, looking into Hiashi's white eyes, "I've known him for years, as well as anyone else. He didn't have any enemies. He was a good person."

"Are you sure? People have a tendency to hide secrets, especially from their loved ones."

"What are you implying?"

"That perhaps you didn't know him as well as you think."

"Impossible! He was killed because of his mission."

"It's always best to leave no stone unturned. It doesn't appear to be a crime of passion. Otherwise there should be post mortem injuries, and he would not have run away from someone he was involved with…" Hiashi muttered, almost to himself. But now satisfied that he was on the right path to find the killer, he ignored the other Anbu and turned to Hanabi, who just managed to stifle a yawn.

"We're pretty much done here," Hiashi announced.

"Father, can we have breakfast now?" asked Hanabi hopefully as her stomach growled and retracted for lack of nourishment.

"Food? At a time like this? We must hurry to find the killer before the trail goes cold. It's already been 8 hours. Time is of the essence. No pain no gain. A stitch in time saves nine…"

"What about food to fuel the brain or haste makes waste?" grumbled poor starving Hanabi.

Hiashi peered down at her, disapprovingly. "You can eat later. This is good training for you. There could be times on missions when you have no food or water for days, maybe even weeks." His tone left no room for discussion.

Hanabi sighed. If she protested anymore, it would just mean more training and more practice without food to toughen her up.

"Come Hanabi, we must search the area for more clues. Turn on your byakugan."

"Yes, father. What are we looking for?"

"Sandal prints, or rather the latent prints of size 8.5 sandals, worn at the lower left part of the left heel and the lower right part of the right heel. Look at those in your hand. Also look for traces of sand, not soil or dirt. Just pure quartz sand."

"Sand? Do you think a Sand-nin did this?"

"It's best not to jump to any conclusions right now. But based on the color of the fibers and the method of death, it could very well be a Sand-nin. The cuts were very clean, and based on the angle, inflicted at the same time, unlikely to be from a physical weapon. It was from ninjutsu, probably a wind attack. Fire, lightning, earth, and water leave obvious signs and sound does not cut like that. And I found a few grains of sand that I'm sure is not indigenous to Konoha. No matter how hard you try to be rid of it, sand gets into everything."

"But the Sand is our ally!" protested Hanabi.

"So were the Cloud when they tried to kidnap your sister. I should have let them have her if I had known my brother was to be sacrificed."

_'It wasn't Hinata's fault. Such an unfair burden to place on her. Is that why father resents her so much? Because he sees her as the cause of his brother's death? And only if she excelled would his sacrifice be justified? So glad I was born second!' _Hanabi thought.

"…Of course I could be wrong and he was killed by a jilted lover or something. Wouldn't surprise me, the shinobi these days…"

_-…-…-…-…-…-…-_


	3. Backtracking

_**Backtracking **_

Uzuki Yuugao bore Hiashi's arrogance in silence. If this jerk could help find Hayate's killer, she would have kept silent forever if need be. She knew all her Anbu training would not be able to help in this case. The murder was too clean. There was no scent to follow, no bloody sandal prints to track. Only someone with special doujutsu like the annoying man before her had the power to find the murderer. And when, not if, he succeeded (his arrogance did seem justified), she would be the one to bring the culprit to justice. Her justice.

Hiashi made a motion to dismiss the Anbu, but the lovely young woman with violet hair refused to budge. Hiashi frowned at her continued presence.

"I can help you…" she offered.

He shook his head and turned his back on her.

"Please…" she persisted.

"Someone like you will just hinder my investigation. If you want to help, just be patient. I'll find whoever did this. You'll be among the first to know," Hiashi uncharacteristically promised.

The masked woman nodded in resignation.

After Anbu had left, Hiashi drew a quick diagram of Konoha, dividing it into quadrants. "The chase probably originated from either of these two quadrants. You search this one and I'll take this one. Search in a zigzag pattern from rooftop to rooftop. Be careful not to step on any evidence. " Hiashi then handed Hanabi a scroll. "If you find anything interesting, activated this scroll and I'll come immediately. If you don't find anything, just meet me back at the house."

Hanabi now had her hands full. She was already carrying Hayate's sword and sandals. She juggled the items to take the scroll and secured it in her back pouch. "Umm, father, do you wish to carry the sword…"

"No, you carry it. You never know how many articles you'll have to carry while on a mission. This is good training for you."

'_Good training my ass, he's just using me as his beast of burden,' _Hanabi grumbled as she readjusted herself, after stowing away the scroll, to hold the sword in her right hand and the sandals in her left. She concentrated chakra to her feet and leaped to the next building.

'_If I take my time in searching, it can take all day and I won't have to do anymore training today. Now that dad's not with me I can sneak off for some food. But if he asks me about it I can't lie or he'll know and then…' _Hanabi sighed. There wasn't any way around it. It was best to just finish searching her designated quadrant and return home hopefully in time for lunch. She didn't have any money anyway. Hiashi did not believe in allowances. He had to control every facet of her and Hinata's life. Hinata had some freedom not because she was older but because Hiashi couldn't care less about such a weakling.

Hanabi thought about her poor sister in the hospital. Their father had not bothered to visit her. '_I really should drop by when I get a chance…that would be when dear old dad takes a day off to go gambling (Hyuuga are excellent at poker)… but she'll probably be home by then. Maybe I can send her some flowers and charge it to the house account. But then the old miser will pitch a fit…' _

Despite having a series of rather random thoughts, Hanabi noticed something on top of a roof, which was decorated by two large fishes with tails arching over their backs. She saw what could be described as a strange dark smear. Hanabi carefully approached it with her eyes activated to avoid stepping on any latent footprints or other possible evidence. The black smear appeared to be dried blood, quite a bit of it. Mixed in with the blood were bits and pieces of…something.

'_This is it!'_ she thought excitedly. She was about to take out the scroll but decided she should look around and draw her own conclusions first. She frowned. There were no latent footprints matching the sandals in her hand. '_Those are too small and those…about the same size but not the same shape or wear pattern…' _she thought. Still, this could be related and as she had found nothing else, this would at least satisfy her father that she did make a real attempt to search her quadrant. Hanabi set down the sword and sandals, took out the scroll from her pouch, unfurled it, and poured her chakra into it with her palms. The air rustled, dust swirled, then Hiashi appeared.

"What did you find?" he asked immediately.

"I found a large black stain which appears to be dried blood," Hanabi reported, standing at attention. "There are three sets of recent latent sandal prints. Two smaller pairs and one larger one. But they don't match that of the victim…"

Hiashi furrowed his brow as he looked around. '_Is this a related crime? It doesn't seem likely, and yet…' _

He took out a senbon and remaining pieces of paper left over from the last crime scene. '_At least Hanabi found something interesting. All I found was a mess of bird poop!' _He carefully collected bits and pieces of various matter imbedded in the dried blood and then ordered, "Hanabi, measure the size of those sandal prints and any noticeable features."

"Yes father." Hanabi moved obediently and used her kunai for scale.

Meanwhile Hiashi peered over the roof while employing the telescopic power of his byakugan. He surveyed the area around them. "Do you know what building this is? The one we're standing on?"

Hanabi looked up from her measurements. "Umm, fishtails…isn't this area where the temporary living quarters are?"

Hiashi nodded. "I think things are coming together. I'll be back in a few minutes. Make sure you note all the positions of those sandal prints."

"Yes father…" Hanabi was about to say but he was already gone.

-...-...-...-...-

_**Interview with the Sand**_

Hiashi brushed himself off to ensure he was looking his most presentable. He straightened his robe and his shoulders then entered the building.

The desk clerk looked up sleepily. Upon recognizing one from the noble houses he quickly sat up and greeted the guest, "Good morning Hyuuga-sama, how may I help you today?"

"I need a list of the guests who stayed here last night."

"Well, I can't…you know it's confidential…"

"I'm under direct orders from the Hokage," he glared at the poor clerk with the veins around his eyes bulging threateningly.

The poor young man cowered and nodded. He took out the registry book. "Hmm, let's see, most of our guests checked out yesterday and a few early this morning…"

"Do you have anyone from the Hidden Village of Sand?"

"There was one group of genin still here this morning. They're supposed to check out soon…"

"Where are they?"

"Top floor, second set of rooms on the right…"

Hiashi hurriedly climbed the stairs. '_They're still here…I can catch them!' _

Their door was open. Their knapsacks were packed and the team looked ready to leave. Hiashi saw the three sand genin sitting around, bored. '_They're probably waiting for their sensei,'_ Hiashi deduced.

They looked at him impassively. Hiashi saw a pretty teenage girl with four short bushy yellow ponytails, a stout boy with weird purplish makeup all dressed in black, and a smaller, thinner boy with red hair and black-ringed blue eyes Each appeared to be carrying a weapon of some sort. The girl had a large fan. The stout boy was holding a bundle wrapped in bandages. The other boy had a large gourd strapped to his back.

The girl, who apparently was the leader, spoke first, "Is there something you want?"

'_Rather bitchy attitude so common of the kunoichi nowadays_,' grumbled Hiashi to himself. '_So impolite, no respect for their elders, kids today! Good thing I beat respect into my kids_.'

All three of the sand genin recognized Hiashi's eyes were like those of Hinata's and Neji's. '_He must be a relative. What does he want. We didn't fight anyone from their clan,' _they all thought simultaneously.

"Excuse me, perhaps you can be of assistance…I'm the …uh…caretaker here and I noticed a…mess on the roof. Would any of you happen to know anything about it?" Hiashi carefully studied the responses of the three siblings. The bitchy girl and the kid with the ugly makeup flinched slightly. The other remained impassive.

"Sorry, can't help you," replied the blond girl evasively.

"Well, perhaps I can speak to your sensei?" Hiashi persisted.

"He's not around."

"I thought I just passed him, big guy, about 6 feet tall and 180 pounds, right?" Hiashi took a gamble based on the sandal prints he found at Hayate's death site. '_This could tie the two crimes together,'_ he thought expectantly.

The girl nodded cautiously.

Hiashi took note of their sandal shape and size, and their height and weight. '_I think I know who here is possibly involved with what occurred on top of this roof, but who was the second victim and how are these crimes connected if at all?' _

"Well, sorry to have bothered you. Have a safe trip back, " Hiashi said pleasantly before he left to return towhere his daughter was waiting.

After the man with the weird white eyes had left, Temari closed the door . "What did you do Gaara?" She asked tentatively, in case he was still in his kill mode.

Gaara looked away without replying.

Kankurou muttered, "Where the hell is Baki-sensei? We'd better hurry and get out of this pathetic village before Gaara loses control again and we get caught in the middle."

-…-…-…-

"Hanabi, I need to see the Hokage. I want you to keep an eye on the Sand team. Don't let them leave."

"Huh? How am I supposed to stop them?"

"Use your brain, think of something, you're smarter than your sister, right?" Hiashi ordered as he took off.

Hanabi carefully stowed away the sword and sandals on top of the roof. She leaped to the roof of the building across, then jumped down. Now she stood across the street to the entrance to the dormitory. She watched a number of people go in and out as she waited anxiously for her father to return. At least fifteen minutes had passed when she saw the Sand team emerge.

'_What to do? What to do?'_ she thought as she quickly ran over. "Excuse me, aren't you the sand genin who just defeated our leaf genin yesterday? Can I have your autograph? Might be worth something if you become legendary." The little girl gave them a wide-eyed look of admiration.

'_Another one of that clan with the white eyes. How creepy. Why are they so interested in us?'_ Temari wondered.

Gaara trembled slightly. '_I must resist the urge to kill her in broad daylight.' _

Kankurou mused, '_She might know something about that guy Neji. He was interesting. But that idiot Naruto was useless – couldn't get any good info out of him.' _After a bit of thought to his approach, Kankurou finally said, "Sure I'll give you an autograph. Hey, are you related to Hyuuga Neji? He sure was an interesting guy."

"Yeah, he's my cousin. He beat up my older sister. She's still in the hospital," Hanabi replied bitterly, thinking how dare one of the branch family lay ahand on one of the head family.

'_Hmm…how ruthless, yet impressive, wish I could do that to Temari or Gaara_,' the puppeteer thought, then said aloud, "You sure have pretty eyes."

"Er, thanks. Your…uh…stripes are very…masculine," Hanabi replied, blushing. '_No one ever compliments my eyes. They all think they're creepy.' _

"Does everyone in your clan have such lovely eyes?" Kankurou asked with what he hoped was a smile, but it came off more as a horrific grimace.

"Yeah…why?" Hanabi replied cautiously. '_He seems awfully interested in my clan.' _

"But you must be very special…"

Temari interrupted, "Stop with the flirting, we have to get going, Baki sensei's probably left already."

'_Stupid bitch I'm data gathering_,' Kankurou thought angrily.

Gaara was whispering to himself, _"Too small and weak to be a tasty morsel for you Mother. We must be patient." _

"So, uh, why don't you tell me about yourself and your clan," Hanabi smiled back,trying to flirt back even though he was probably twice her age and she had nothing to flirt with except her large white eyes. Still she smiled and tilted her head back and played with her long black hair coquettishly.

-…-…-…-

_Author's Notes: This story is not meant to promote KankurouxHanabi! I'm still not sure where I'll be going with this story. Now that I know the Anbu girl's name I might write her in or I might use her in another story. I was think of maybe writing a series of Hiashi and Hanabi mystery fics but since I'm still stuck on this I probably won't. _

_Next up: Hiashi reports to the Hokage._


	4. The Reports

_Author's Notes: Sorry it took so long to update this but I still don't know how to end this._

**The Reports**

On his way to see the Hokage, Hiashi made two quick stops. First he dropped by the hospital and demanded the preliminary autopsy report and trace evidence lab analyses. Then he dropped by the photographer's and requested the contact sheets for the negatives and any prints that were ready.

Time was of the essence, so Hiashi quickly blew by everyone in his path - brushing past Sandaime's receptionist, and knocking Raidou out of the way, until he arrived in Sandaime's office.

He immediately made his proposal, "Sandaime, I'm here to request the detention of all Sand visitors. Do not let any of them leave Konoha. I have evidence that the Sand were involved in two deaths last night. In addition to Hayate, we found the bloody remnants of bone and metal on the roof of a guest dormitory, near Kikyo's Tower."

Sandaime took a long puff from his pipe and held it. The nicotine from the tobacco helped to clear his head as he thought of the possible ramifications. Finally he asked, "What proof do you have?"

"I found (_he failed to give Hanabi credit_) an abundance of blood with bone fragments, metal fragments, and sand generously mixed in, on the rooftop of the dormitory with the two fishtails. Based on the path of the sandal prints, and their overlay pattern, it appears that the victim, an older boy or girl with size six sandals, was killed by a younger one. The remaining Sand genin team is still there. I interviewed them and I'm confident that the one with the gourd was involved, since he wears size 5 sandals, consistent with the prints found at the crime scene. In fact, there were quite a few good bloody prints we can match up."

"That boy is Gaara of the Desert. He crushed his opponent's left arm and leg with sand during the preliminary chuunin exam that was held to cut down the number of participants," Sandaime said thoughtfully.

"Well, the metal and bone fragments were pulverized and mixed in with sand, consistent with his method of attack. I suspect the victim is most likely dead and another person with size nine sandals removed the body. I just dropped off the new evidence samples at the hospital and picked up their preliminary reports." Hiashi had threatened the staff with Hakke Rokujuuyonshou if he did not get the preliminary reports within 60 seconds.

"Hmm…Is that it? Sand and sandalprints?" asked Sandaime skeptically. "Who was the victim and how does this tie into Hayate's death?"

Hiashi had to confess, "I haven't had time to identify the second victim. We can check to see if there's been any missing persons report filed this morning. As for how the two crimes are related, sand was found at both crime scenes. The size 11 sandal prints I found by Hayate's body are consistent with the general description of the Sand genin team's sensei. "

"Was it exactly the same type of sand found at both sites and were the same sandal prints found at both sites?" asked Sandaime astutely.

"Well..." Hiashi hesitated. He knew in his gut that the two crimes were somehow connected, but there was no physical link, yet. "The sand found at the two crime scenes don't appear to be identical, but both samples are not indigenous to Konoha. They're likely from the desert. The sand collected at the dormitory rooftop seems to be more dense and has a red hue…"

"So it's not the same sand," Sadaime cut to the chase, "and the sandalprints?"

"I didn't find Hayate's or his murderer's prints on the dormitory roof, but…"

"So there is no evidence connecting the two crimes?"

"Not exactly," Hiashi said nonchalantly, but his ears started burning. He knew he didn't have the evidence yet, but he had to stop the Sand from leaving. "Isn't that enough to hold the Sand genin and their sensei for questioning?"

"What if the sand were planted there by Orochimaru to implicated Hidden Sand Village? Perhaps he's trying to turn us against our allies," said Sandaime, playing devil's advocate.

"But according to the autopsy report, Hayate was mostly likely killed by a wind jutsu," Hiashi pointed out.

"Other shinobi like myself and Asuma are capable of wind jutsu, and pure quartz sand can be retrieved from the deserts of Wind Country by anyone," Sandaime insisted.

But Hiashi persisted, "We must prevent the Sand shinobi from leaving. We should take DNA samples and stall them until we get all the test results back. There was enough blood on Hayate's sword for a DNA test. If we can get a sample from the Sand sensei, we can definitely prove he's the murderer. We should also ask the exam hall cleanup crew to shift through the garbage and find the sand from the chunnin exam fight to compare with... "

"No, if the Sand are involved with Orochimaru, we can't tip our hand to let him know we know," Sandaime said while shaking his wise wrinkled, age-spotted head. "For now, let's just go through the evidence."

_**Preliminary autopsy report:**_

_Subject: Adult male identified as Gekkou Hayate, age 23, special jounin of Hidden Leaf Village_

_Estimated time of death: midnight_

_Cause of death: blood loss from severed jugular_

_Summary of findings: 9 lacerations on the upper torso, 2"-6" in length, the cuts are concave, similar to being cut by a curved weapon. Depth of cuts range from 1/4" to 1" deep. The body was protected by the shinobi vest, which suffered only superficial damage. The arms appeared to have been raised in defense and suffered the deepest wounds. The lacerations are clean with no jagged edges and devoid of trace metals. _

_226 punctures on parts of body not protected by the shinobi vest: range in depth from 1/4" - 1/2" with size and shape consistent with a crow's beak. Lack of blood indicate that the wounds were made post mortem._

_**Preliminary Lab Results:**_

_Packet#/coordinates/evidence description/test results_

_1. (3,5) blood taken two feet from victim's body/AB type matches victim_

_2. (5,5) blood taken from victim's clothes/AB type matches victim_

_3. (2,5) blood three feet from victim's body/A type unknown suspect, DNA results pending _

_4. sword/ blood/A type unknown suspect, DNA results pending_

_5. bloody fibers on sword/A type unknown suspect, DNA results pending; fibers are Kevlar fibers consistent in type and color with flak jackets worn by the shinobi of Hidden Sand Village_

_6. (2,5) sand taken from the ground three feet from victim's body/pure quartz sand with negligible other mineral deposits, not indigenous_

_7. (5,5) sand taken from the body/ pure quartz sand with negligible other mineral deposits, not indigenous_

_8. sand taken from victim's sandals/mix of indigenous soil and pure quartz sand, not indigenous_

Sandaime studied the reports in silence. After a few minutes Hiashi could wait no longer and suggested, "If you have a list of all foreign shinobi present in the village the past couple of days…"

"Even if I gave you a list it won't help. I'm afraid most of them have already left the village and there are no extradition agreements. In fact, I must ask you to keep this investigation confidential and let no one know of your determinations.

"What? Pretend that I failed to solve this case? Do you mean to brush all this under the rug, like Hizashi's death?" the head Hyuuga demanded.

"You know what a political pickle we're in. Our relationships with our allies are tenuous at best. If we don't have solid proof, we'll just be antagonizing them and we can't afford to risk another war," Sandaime explained patiently.

Hiashi's face clouded in anger but he mastered his fury and shrugged. "Finding the truth is all that matters to me, but his family and friends deserve to know."

The Hokage shook his head. "Tell no one of your conclusions. That's an order. We can't afford to have shinobi plotting their own vigilante revenge. We must not give any excuse for the Sand to declare war."

Hiashi nodded and bowed before the Hokage while thinking, _'Not again, I swore I'd never let something like this happen again. Somehow the truth must be known. In any case, war will come soon enough.'_

-…-…-…-…-

_Author Notes: I think the next arc will involve the ANBU girl._


End file.
